Final project

http://libraryresources3.pbwiki.com/

Reflections on a on-line role play

After completing the online role play there are some thoughts about how I would want to specifically design my own role play.  I wouldn't want to have more than fifteen or twenty students completing the roll play.  If there is more students than that then some of the quieter students could easily escape from not engaging in the dialogue with the group.  A smaller group forces them to participate in the conversation or at least makes it harder for them to hide amongst their peers.  Also the conversation can quickly move from one thought to the next in a large group.  I would prefer if students were able to discuss one idea in depth before transitioning from one idea to the next.  

In designing discuss sessions as a teacher, I would want to create topics of high interest initially in order to stimulate discussion and demonstrate to the students how the roll-play could heighten their learning experience.  I would then intermix more challenging and topics that aren't high interest to show them challenging and difficult problems people deal with throughout their adult life.

Using a Pbwiki

In theory, I believe a Pbwiki is or would be fairly easy to use.  I had a tough time saving my changes for pages linked to the main page.  It seems like a pretty quick process to try and save changes and link them up.  I'm not sure why I was having problems.  

The Pbwiki seems quite similar to a web page program, Frontpage that I had maintained about eight years ago.  It was quick and easy to create and link up pages from one to the next.  

I would use Pbwiki to use as a information link to students and parents for homework assignments, link to educational resources and calendar for upcoming activities.

E-Portfolio Reflection

My method of using technology to enhance student learning was done through PowerPoint presentations, creating simple Web Pages and use video editing tools.  The utilization of videos and doing video editing was really hampered by hardware challenges with subpar processors and hard drive space.  Some of my principals engrained in me to use black and white slides with limited changes in font and little to know colors.  Their thought was that anything too flashy would be distracting to the students and not help you get your true message across.  

When creating new PowerPoint presentations that were too the point and not too wordy and incorporating pictures to really illustrate the concepts discussed, I notice a remarkable interest in what I was teaching.  Students asked many more questions than when I used my old bland PowerPoint presentations.  I even got positive feedback from students about the format of these new presentations from students that usually don't give feedback.

As far as using a portfolio or reflection piece for students to evaluate their work, I would want to guide them to look at what they have published as writers and see if their work has accomplished to goals they had in mind.  I would want them to utilize peer comments to help enhance their published work.

Use of Rubric

Standards	Incomplete (0)	Not yet proficient (1)	Partially Proficient (2)	Proficient (3)	Exemplary (4)
Writing Process	Challenging to understand the main idea, there are lots of errors in regards to spelling and grammar	There is a lot of errors, but the main idea is distinguishable	Easy to understand with some errors	Clear, concise, and basically well written; still with a few errors	Clear, concise, and well written, and edited with no serious errors
Content	Information is incomplete or not correct. The blog page does not have a clear purpose or central theme	Information is not always clear or correct.  The theme or main idea of the Web page is more or less clear, but does not relate to the purpose or theme of the project	Information is clear and correct.  The theme or main idea of the blog is more or less clear and related to the purpose or theme of the project	The content has accurate and useful information.  The theme or main idea of the blog is clear and related to the purpose or theme of the project.	The theme or main idea of the blog is clear, and pages link to related information.  The content has accurate and very useful information.  The theme or main idea is very clear.  The blog pages link to quality information.
Layout	There is no structure or organization	Title or subtitles not bolded and challenging to distinguish between topics	Uses headings’ sections labeled some formatting	Organized and consistent; good formatting	Appearance of the page looks professional
Development of work	Written sheet submitted to teacher	Text for page entered into simple word processor and edited	Draft page is submitted and text for entries relates to original plan	Evidence of revision of page; text relates very closely to original plan	A reflection of development process is given to the teacher
Comments	Creates comments to others blogs that don’t relate to their entries	Creates comments that relate to peers’ entries	Comments about peers’ entries are related to their topics, and give feedback that summarizes the authors entry	Comments about peers’ entry is information that can be used to help them add more information to their post	Comments about peers’ entry is information that can be used to help them add more information to their post, and author uses comments to add more detail by reposting an entry

 

Using Snapz Pro to Record Conversation

I completed a brief interview of my wife using the our Ichat accounts.  A download of Snapz Pro was needed in order to complete the task.  It took a number of takes in order to figure out how to activate the Snapz Pro program to begin and then a couple of additional takes to figure out how to stop the program.  The compressing and posting of the video clip went quickly.

What I would do differently to create a video?

The use of videos is a powerful attention getting feature to add to any teacher guided instruction.  It can add an element of realism to the concept(s) that the instructor is presenting.  Considering the wide range of types of programs utilized to create video work.

In playing around with the Imovie program, I discovered the amount of time needed in order to create quality work.  I would like to utilize Garage Band in order to create audio summaries of some of the pictures that are included in the video.  The audio would give prompts to the viewing audience to complete certain tasks or give further explanation of the pictures or video in the video being viewed.  

As with riding a bicycle, creating videos takes time and practice to become efficient using it.  An easy thing to do would be to post YouTube videos related to historical events for my World History class.  I would assign students the roles of reenacting historical events to film to show to their classmates.  Lectures could also be taped and edited for students that can't make it to class.

Who is Alexander the Great?

Gail's Graduation Breakfast

My Experience Voting

Thanksgiving at the Tumas

Why I voted for Barack Obama

How to use digital writing in the classroom

My Princesses

Here is my princesses dressing up

Why do people vote the way they do?

Amongst all the negative advertising between the two major political groups, I have been pondering questions about why people vote the way they do. I want to get some feedback in regards to how you or how you feel others make decisions when voting.
The following are four topics that I’m interested in discussing:
1. Why do you have the political ideals or values that you do? I have heard that upwards of 75% of active voters vote the same way their parents do or have. Is it a matter of social or religious values? Do you have strong convictions in regards to the economy, military, education or health care? Are social services an important issue to you? Does the media have an impact on your political ideals (certain political shows, twenty-four news stations you actively view, are you an active member on certain blogs related to politics etc…)?
2. What are the key issues at stake from a national perspective? Many pundits claim that the “economy” is the key issue at stake in this election. What are the key or important issues for you? How will that have an impact on how you vote?
3. With the election of the presidency there will be a first with either one of the candidates being elected. Either the first woman as the Vice President or the first African American as President of the United States. Do you think prejudice will be a factor with either side being selected? Will sexism or racism be a factor for either of the candidates? Explain why you feel the way you do.
4. Why do you think that most people vote for candidates in the two major parties? There are certainly other options in national races.
Thank you for giving feedback in regards to the voting process. Feel free to ask questions about others’ responses.

How blogging could be used in the classroom.

Blogging can be used in the classroom by widening the audience that students can display their written work.  Typed or written work is usually viewed by the teacher and maybe a peer.  With a blog, students in a class can readily read each others work and comment on it.  Others can also be invited to read and comment on the students written work.  Having the ability to publish to a broader audience and get feedback from others will further motive writers and give them feedback to help them improve their writing and add more depth to what they are writing about.